Moving to Irvine

[Kuki]

Originally Posted by OtherHand

Irvine is really designed around having a car. While there are some pedestrian paths, the shopping areas are spread far enough apart so that you really need a vehicle to do shopping if you live in one of the further residential areas.

That said, there are very many residential areas adjacent or very close to the shopping centers which might work for you, and you could walk. The trouble is some of the communities are very large, and giving you the name of a specific community might not be useful.

For example, Woodbridge is a great village in Irvine. Parts of it are next to shopping but some is too far to walk. That's true with many of the village sin Irvine. You might be better off finding areas of good shopping and restaurants and focus your house hunting near there.

Given your husband will be working in Anaheim, Old Towne in the City of Orange could be of interest to you. Orange is adjacent to Anaheim and Old Towne is very walkable, has a good community feel and a number of restaurants. People can get around easily without a car, and there is a Metrolink train station within walking distance that provides access to Los Angeles and San Diego. Probably not as "safe" as Irvine (few places are) but safe enough by almost any standard.

Thank you very much OtherHand, I will have a look also in Old Towne in Orange.
On the other hand as Bvitamin and DinsdalePirahna say I will have a look also in Fullerton.
Talking about Irvine, could you suggest a precise place in the villages of Woodbridge and Westpark close to the mentioned shopping and restaurant areas? With some street names should be enough to allow me to look for rental houses.

Thanks again

[Kuki]

Originally Posted by robbybee

Sounds like you have all of the right stuff to become a Californian! I hope that you find what you are looking for here! Yes, Irvine is safe with good schools and nice amenities but as you have already found, it's not cheap to live there and it's not a city with an urban feel. It's hard to replicate that lifestyle in Orange County because OC is so spread out. It's often referred to as Urban Sprawl.

Others will be better-suited than I to recommend neighborhoods and schools.

Congratulations and good luck!

Thank you very much for your answer.

[Kuki]

Originally Posted by OC Investor2

Kuki - Welcome to the USA and to Irvine.

Couple thoughts for you.

1. It sounds like you may be percieving Irvine as a "city" with a downtown. Perhaps because of its large population? It really is more of a very, very large suburb. Having said that, there are a lot of the things you mentioned in the Irvine and some areas offer the walk - ability you mentioned. Irvine is divided into a series of "villages" (nighborhoods). Westpark is the village that runs between Culver and Harvard ave. and is very pedestrian friendly. My family lives here and we can walk to 3 seperate shopping centers that can meet 90% of our day to day needs and there are 4 preschools I can think of off the top of my head in walking distance as well. Plus the village is loaded with parks and is near the awesome Bill Barber park at the civic center that your daughter will love.

Certain parts of the villages of Woodbridge - particularly near the University/Jeffery ave side - Oak Creek Village and University Park would also be more walkable. Also any of the developments in West Irvine and Northpark near the Marketplace may work if you are looking to rent. If you want to walk to things avoid Orangetree, Turtle Rock and El Camino Real.

2. $1200 is about right, maybe a smidge high 1 year olds & infants are always more $$ because state law requires a higher staff to student ratio. It goes down a little bit as they get older. I was paying $470/month for my 4year old for just 2 days a week at pre-k. For less expensive options there are alot of in-home day cares in the area where someone watchs 4-5 kids in their home. Its more of a daycare then a preschool enviroment. If you are interested call the city and they can get you a list of providers in your area. Another possibility is to do only half days or full days for only 2 or 3 days a week.

3. Not sure on this one, but given the high number of immigrants in Irvine (mostly Asian) there has to be some resources for ESL (English as a Second Language) learners in the area.

Irvine is great place for young families and only 15 minutes from Anaheim - 30 in bad traffic. Best of luck!

Thank you very much for your help. Definitely we would have a look for renting in Westpark. Could you suggest a precise place in Westpark to look for renting?

[OC Investor2]

[quote=Kuki;19811771]

Originally Posted by OC Investor2

Kuki - Welcome to the USA and to Irvine.

Couple thoughts for you.

1. It sounds like you may be percieving Irvine as a "city" with a downtown. Perhaps because of its large population? It really is more of a very, very large suburb. Having said that, there are a lot of the things you mentioned in the Irvine and some areas offer the walk - ability you mentioned. Irvine is divided into a series of "villages" (nighborhoods). Westpark is the village that runs between Culver and Harvard ave. and is very pedestrian friendly. My family lives here and we can walk to 3 seperate shopping centers that can meet 90% of our day to day needs and there are 4 preschools I can think of off the top of my head in walking distance as well. Plus the village is loaded with parks and is near the awesome Bill Barber park at the civic center that your daughter will love.



Thank you very much for your help. Definitely we would have a look for renting in Westpark. Could you suggest a precise place in Westpark to look for renting?

There are the big Irvine Apartment Community owned developments - Santa Clara, Santa Maria and Santa Rosa in Westpark II and San Remo and San Leon in Westpark I. Go to www.rental-living.com for more info on these

There are several Condo/Townhome complexes as well where many of the units are rented by Private owners. Best way to find these is thru an agent or the MLS services. Go to www.realtor.com and do a search. The attached link is to the website of a real estate agent who specializes in the area. Irvine Real Estate - Fred Stepanian. The guy's a bit of a douche so you may not want to contact him, but his site is full of good info on Westpark.

[DinsdalePirahna]

You will her a lot of griping about IAC communities. My experience with them is that they are top notch and respond to a tenants needs within a day.

Moderator cut: crude

[patosf]

[quote=Kuki;19811771]

Originally Posted by OC Investor2

Kuki - Welcome to the USA and to Irvine.

Irvine is divided into a series of "villages" (nighborhoods). Westpark is the village that runs between Culver and Harvard ave. and is very pedestrian friendly. My family lives here and we can walk to 3 seperate shopping centers that can meet 90% of our day to day needs and there are 4 preschools I can think of off the top of my head in walking distance as well. Plus the village is loaded with parks and is near the awesome Bill Barber park at the civic center that your daughter will love.

What elementary schools fall into Westpark? Thanks for your tip on the neighborhoods. What is the Bill Barber Park?